Uhh... shouldn't this topic be in the beef aisle?
Anyway, all this talk of corned beef and pastrami got me looking through the pastrami recipes. I noticed a few things that might help.
Some recipes call for cuts no thicker than 3 inches. I don't know if this is to help with brining or smoking.
After the beef is brined (that's already done if you start with store-bought corned beef, obviously), it's usually rubbed with black pepper and coriander, maybe some garlic powder, and maybe some paprika for color.
Then it's into the fridge for the night.
Here's the interesting part: the recipes I've found all call for the meat to be
dry on the surface prior to smoking. That actually makes some amount of sense: since the meat is already cured there's no need for extra nitrites, and you'd never see the smoke ring if there was one.
For drying, some call for 4-6 hrs at room temp, some call for an hour in a 130F-150F smokehouse with the dampers open wide, but they all call for a dry product before the smoke is applied.
Opinions vary on the target temperature, but the common thread seems to be light smoke at 200F to 230F until the internal temp is where you want it (some say 150F, some say 180F... whatever you feel comfortable with).
Now, you could always start with your own brisket or sirloin, if you've got a meat pump. All the recipes pump the meat to 5% or as much as 15% green wheight before immersing it in the brine for a week or so.
So it might be worth a shot after all. You could always cut a few 3" cuts, rub 'em, dry 'em, and smoke 'em, and just do the rest of the corned beef in the crock pot.
Either way, yum yum!
If you give it a try after all, let us know how it turns out!
--Thom
